The formation and habitability of terrestrial planets in the presence of close-in giant planets

‘Hot jupiters,’ giant planets with orbits very close to their parent stars, are thought to form farther away and migrate inward via interactions with a massive gas disk. If a giant planet forms and migrates quickly, the planetesimal population has time to re-generate in the lifetime of the disk and terrestrial planets may form [P.J. Armitage, A reduced efficiency of terrestrial planet formation following giant planet migration, Astrophys. J. 582 (2003) L47-L50]. We present results of simulations of terrestrial planet formation in the presence of hot/warm jupiters, broadly defined as having orbital radii ?0.5 AU. We show that terrestrial planets similar to those in the Solar System can form around stars with hot/warm jupiters, and can have water contents equal to or higher than the Earth's. For small orbital radii of hot jupiters (e.g., 0.15, 0.25 AU) potentially habitable planets can form, but for semi-major axes of 0.5 AU or greater their formation is suppressed. We show that the presence of an outer giant planet such as Jupiter does not enhance the water content of the terrestrial planets, but rather decreases their formation and water delivery timescales. We speculate that asteroid belts may exist interior to the terrestrial planets in systems with close-in giant planets.     

Eccentricities of Planets in Binary Systems

The most puzzling property of the extrasolar planets discovered by recent radial velocity surveys is their high orbital eccentricities, which are very difficult to explain within our current theoretical paradigm for planet formation. Current data reveal that at least 25% of these planets, including some with particularly high eccentricities, are orbiting a component of a binary star system. The presence of a distant companion can cause significant secular perturbations in the orbit of a planet. At high relative inclinations, large-amplitude, periodic eccentricity perturbations can occur. These are known as “Kozai cycles” and their amplitude is purely dependent on the relative orbital inclination. Assuming that every planet host star also has a (possibly unseen, e.g., substellar) distant companion, with reasonable distributions of orbital parameters and masses, we determine the resulting eccentricity distribution of planets and compare it to observations? We find that perturbations from a binary companion always appear to produce an excess of planets with both very high (?0.6) and very low (e ? 0.1) eccentricities. The paucity of near-circular orbits in the observed sample implies that at least one additional mechanism must be increasing eccentricities. On the other hand, the overproduction of very high eccentricities observed in our models could be combined with plausible circularization mechanisms (e.g., friction from residual gas) to create more planets with intermediate eccentricities (e? 0.1–0.6).     

The evolution of the water distribution in a viscous protoplanetary disk

Astronomical observations have shown that protoplanetary disks are dynamic objects through which mass is transported and accreted by the central star. This transport causes the disks to decrease in mass and cool over time, and such evolution is expected to have occurred in our own solar nebula. Age dating of meteorite constituents shows that their creation, evolution, and accumulation occupied several Myr, and over this time disk properties would evolve significantly. Moreover, on this timescale, solid particles decouple from the gas in the disk and their evolution follows a different path. It is in this context that we must understand how our own solar nebula evolved and what effects this evolution had on the primitive materials contained within it. Here we present a model which tracks how the distribution of water changes in an evolving disk as the water-bearing species experience condensation, accretion, transport, collisional destruction, and vaporization. Because solids are transported in a disk at different rates depending on their sizes, the motions will lead to water being concentrated in some regions of a disk and depleted in others. These enhancements and depletions are consistent with the conditions needed to explain some aspects of the chemistry of chondritic meteorites and formation of giant planets. The levels of concentration and depletion, as well as their locations, depend strongly on the combined effects of the gaseous disk evolution, the formation of rapidly migrating rubble, and the growth of immobile planetesimals. Understanding how these processes operate simultaneously is critical to developing our models for meteorite parent body formation in the Solar System and giant planet formation throughout the galaxy. We present examples of evolution under a range of plausible assumptions and demonstrate how the chemical evolution of the inner region of a protoplanetary disk is intimately connected to the physical processes which occur in the outer regions.     

Particle stirring in turbulent gas disks: Including orbital oscillations

We describe the diffusion and random velocities of solid particles due to stochastic forcing by turbulent gas. We include the orbital dynamics of Keplerian disks, both in-plane epicycles and vertical oscillations. We obtain a new result for the diffusion of solids. The Schmidt number (ratio of gas to particle diffusivity) is Sc≈1+(Ωt_stop)², in terms of the particle stopping time t_stop and the orbital frequency Ω. The standard result, Sc=1+t_stop/t_eddy, in terms of the eddy turnover time, t_eddy, is shown to be incorrect. The main difference is that Sc rises quadratically, not linearly, with stopping time. Consequently, particles larger than 10 cm in protoplanetary disks will suffer less radial diffusion and will settle closer to the midplane. Such a layer of boulders would be more prone to gravitational collapse. Our predictions of RMS speeds, vertical scale height and diffusion coefficients will help interpret numerical simulations. We confirm previous results for the vertical stirring of particles (scale heights and random velocities), and add a correction for arbitrary ratios of eddy to orbital times. The particle layer becomes thinner for t_eddy>1/Ω with the strength of turbulent diffusion held fixed. We use two analytic techniques—the Hinze–Tchen formalism and the Fokker–Planck equation with velocity diffusion—with identical results when the regimes of validity overlap. We include simple physical arguments for the scaling of our results.     

Radiative cooling within illuminated layers of dust on (pre)-planetary surfaces and its effect on dust ejection

Temperature gradients in dust beds embedded in a low pressure gaseous environment induce a lift of particles under certain conditions. This effect can erode planetesimals and enables entrainment of dust into the martian atmosphere. Here, we consider a numerical model to calculate the temperature profile in a dust bed which is subject to illumination. We consider the situation when the illumination is switched on and heats the dust bed’s surface and when it is switched off again after a certain time. The calculations focus on the heat transfer by infrared radiation within the dust layer. We find that radiative transfer within the dust bed modifies the absolute temperatures and temperature gradients significantly. This is important for effects which are sensitive to absolute temperatures, i.e. ice sublimation or melting of solids. For low thermal conductivity dust beds of 0.001 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹ it determines the temperature structure of the dust. For higher thermal conductivities the modifications are moderate with respect to dust eruptions as the order of magnitude of temperature gradients stays the same.     

Saturn’s F ring grains: Aggregates made of crystalline water ice

We present models of the near-infrared (1-5 μm) spectra of Saturn’s F ring obtained by Cassini’s Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) at ultra-high phase angles (177.4-178.5°). Modeling this spectrum constrains the size distribution, composition, and structure of F ring particles in the 0.1-100 μm size range. These spectra are very different from those obtained at lower phase angles; they lack the familiar 1.5 and 2 μm absorption bands, and the expected 3 μm water ice primary absorption appears as an unusually narrow dip at 2.87 μm. We have modeled these data using multiple approaches. First, we use a simple Mie scattering model to constrain the size distribution and composition of the particles. The Mie model allows us to understand the overall shapes of the spectra in terms of dominance by diffraction at these ultra-high phase angles, and also to demonstrate that the 2.87 μm dip is associated with the Christiansen frequency of water ice (where the real refractive index passes unity). Second, we use a combination of Mie scattering with Effective Medium Theory to probe the effect of porous (but structureless) particles on the overall shape of the spectrum and depth of the 2.87 μm band. Such simple models are not able to capture the shape of this absorption feature well. Finally, we model each particle as an aggregate of discrete monomers, using the Discrete Dipole Approximation (DDA) model, and find a better fit for the depth of the 2.87 μm feature. The DDA models imply a slightly different overall size distribution. We present a simple heuristic model which explains the differences between the Mie and DDA model results. We conclude that the F ring contains aggregate particles with a size distribution that is distinctly narrower than a typical power law, and that the particles are predominantly crystalline water ice.     

High-resolution Dione atlas derived from Cassini-ISS images

The Cassini imaging science subsystem (ISS) acquired 449 high-resolution images (<800 m/pixel) during one close flyby of Dione in 2005 and three non-targeted flybys in 2004, 2006, and 2007. We combined these images with lower-resolution Cassini images and one other taken by Voyager cameras to produce a high-resolution semi-controlled mosaic of Dione. This global mosaic is the baseline for a high-resolution Dione atlas that consists of 15 tiles mapped at a scale of 1:1,000,000. The nomenclature used in this atlas was proposed by the Cassini imaging team and was approved by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). The whole atlas is available to the public through the Imaging Team's website [http://ciclops.org/maps].     

Photometric modeling of Saturn's rings: I. Monte Carlo method and the effect of nonzero volume filling factor

The scattering properties of particulate rings with volume filling factors in the interval D=0.001-0.3 are studied, with photometric Monte Carlo ray tracing simulations combining the advantages of direct (photons followed from the source) and indirect methods (brightness as seen from the observing direction). Besides vertically homogeneous models, ranging from monolayers to classical many-particle thick rings, particle distributions obtained from dynamical simulations are studied, possessing a nonuniform vertical profile and a power law distribution of particle sizes. Self-gravity is not included to assure homogeneity in planar directions. Our main goal is to check whether the moderately flattened ring models predicted by dynamical simulations (with central plane D>0.1) are consistent with the basic photometric properties of Saturn's rings seen in ground-based observations, including the brightening near zero phase angle (opposition effect), and the brightening of the B-ring with increasing elevation angle (tilt effect). Our photometric simulations indicate that dense rings are typically brighter in reflected light than those with D→0, due to enhanced single scattering. For a vertically illuminated layer of identical particles this enhancement amounts at intermediate viewing elevations to roughly 1+2D. Increased single scattering is also obtained for low elevation illumination, further augmented at low phase angles α by the opposition brightening when D increases: the simulated opposition effect agrees very well with the Lumme and Bowell (1981, Astron. J. 86, 1694-1704) theoretical formula. For large α the total intensity may also decrease, due to reduced amount of multiple scattering. For the low (α=13°) and high (α=155°) phase angle geometries analyzed in Dones et al. (1993, Icarus 105, 184-215) the brightness change for D=0.1 amounts to 20% and −17%, respectively. In the case of an extended size distribution, dynamical simulations indicate that the smallest particles typically occupy a layer several times thicker than the largest particles. Even if the large particles form a dynamically dense system, a narrow opposition peak can arise due to mutual shadowing among the small particles: for example, a size distribution extending about two decades can account for the observed about 1° wide opposition peak, solely in terms of mutual shadowing. The reduced width of the opposition peak for extended size distribution is in accordance with Hapke's (1986, Icarus 67, 264-280) treatment for semi-infinite layers. Due to vertical profile and particle size distribution, the photometric behavior is sensitive to the viewing elevation: this can account for the tilt-effect of the B-ring, as dense and thus bright central parts of the ring become better visible for larger elevation, whereas in the case of smaller elevation, mainly low volume density upper layers are visible. Since multiple scattering is not involved, the explanation works also for albedo well below unity. Inclusion of nonzero volume density helps also to model some of the Voyager observations. For example, the discrepancy between predicted and observed brightness at large phase angles for much of the A-ring (Dones et al., 1993, Icarus 105, 184-215) is removed when the enhanced low α single scattering and reduced large α multiple scattering is allowed for. Also, a model with vertical thickness increasing with saturnocentric distance offers at least a qualitative explanation for the observed contrast reversal between the inner and outer A-ring in low and high phase Voyager images. Differences in local size distribution and thus on the effective D may also account for the contrast reversal in resonance sites.     

The rotational temperature and column density of H3 in Uranus

H₃⁺ emission from Uranus has been observed repeatedly for over a decade. However, the details of the emission mechanisms are still poorly understood. In this paper, we discuss our findings from the observations we made in September 2000 and September 2001. The spectrum of Uranus was recorded at the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility using the SpeX instrument between 3 and 5 μm, with a resolving power of 1000. The 3.4–4.1 μm range permits a determination of both the H₃⁺ column density and its rotational temperature. The H₃⁺ emission, measured at 3.986 μm in the 0.8×3.7 arcsec aperture, was 0.031 Jy in September 2000 and 0.053 Jy in September 2001. The rotational temperature was found to be 560±40 K and 640±40 K in 2000 and 2001 respectively, with corresponding column densities of 5.1 (+3.2,−1.4) 10¹¹ and 4.0 (+1.8,−1.0) 10¹¹ cm⁻². These results extend the baseline for the variability study of the H₃⁺ emission (Astrophys. J. 524 (1999) 1059). Previous observations between 1992 and 1998 seemed to indicate a correlation between the H₃⁺ intensity and the solar cycle. The current data for 2000 and 2001 appear to be consistent with this general tendency.     

A comparison of methods used to estimate the height of sand dunes on Mars

The collection of morphometric data on small-scale landforms from other planetary bodies is difficult. We assess four methods that can be used to estimate the height of aeolian dunes on Mars. These are (1) stereography, (2) slip face length, (3) profiling photoclinometry, and (4) Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA). Results show that there is good agreement among the methods when conditions are ideal. However, limitations inherent to each method inhibited their accurate application to all sites. Collectively, these techniques provide data on a range of morphometric parameters, some of which were not previously available for dunes on Mars. They include dune height, width, length, surface area, volume, and longitudinal and transverse profiles. The utilization of these methods will facilitate a more accurate analysis of aeolian dunes on Mars and enable comparison with dunes on other planetary surfaces.